Our History

Prescott, Arizona was founded in 1864 as the Capitol of the Arizona Territory. Located in the high desert mountains of central Arizona, Prescott is today the Seat of Yavapai County. Well known for its pleasant four-season climate. Prescott has been a tourist destination since the 1890s, when prominent Phoenix families came by train to Prescott for the summer to escape the desert heat. Around the turn of the century, Prescott became well known for the healthy effect the climate had on suffers of tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases. Many health seekers came to Prescott for this reason. In the 1920s, as more people had automobiles and roads became more plentiful, tourism became an important part of the local economy. Hotels catering to the automobile traveler were built, such as the Hassayampa Inn (1929), and tourist courts and cabins began to appear.

By the end of the Second World War, Americans, weary of travel on busses and trains and of the shortage of consumer goods imposed by the war, began to buy new cars in large numbers. And, they began to travel. There were few reasonably priced accommodations for families, and the concept of the”motel”was created. The motel differed from the typical tourist court or cabins in that it was designed to house the guests under one roof and to make the lodgings convenient to people traveling by car. Motels were built all over the United States and quickly became a very popular part of the American landscape. The first motel built in Prescott was the Apache Lodge Motel, completed in 1947. Located in east Prescott at 1130 East Gurley Street at the intersection of East Sheldon and East Gurley streets, the Apache Lodge Motel has become a landmark at the entrance to Prescott from State Highways 69 and 89.